NSF STEM Day - May 10th 2025
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The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) commemorated its 75th anniversary on May 10th, 2025. Many of the discoveries and innovations that we use every day - including GIS technologies, the internet, AI and Duolingo - are the result of NSF investments in STEM. The free event showcased some of the research projects, education initiatives, and public science communication efforts that the NSF has funded at CU Boulder and CU Anschutz. CU Science Discovery organized and led the celebration with its Build a Better Book partners at Mountain Lakes Library in New Jersey, Explora Science Center in New Mexico, Laredo Public Library in Texas, and Arecibo C3 Center in Puerto Rico. The celebration at all 5 sites included activities and demos for the public, young and old!
CU Science Discovery Interns demonstrate various projects created during their 2022, 2023 & 2024 Build a Better Book Summer Internships. Projects included laser cut accessible games - Ingenious and Chess and 3D printed Chess and Othello/Checker pieces.Ìý
Activities at each site included:
- Braille Embosser with text blocks that say "Build a Better Book"
- Braille Twister dots
- Braille Eggs
- Braille Legos
- 3D printed Braille Crayon caps, crayons and swell paper coloring pages.
- Each site had a tactile laser cut map of their state and the Public used fabric and craft materials to create a Tactile Map of their State.
University of Colorado Boulder (Main Internship site): Led the coordination, design, and dissemination of activities and experiences for STEM Day events and hosted a main event at the Engineering Center that showcases BBB intern projects and maker activities.
Our longtime Build a Better Book Partner, Mountain Lakes Public Library in New Jersey, who ran internship from 2022-2024, hosted an interactive event showcasing BBB intern projects and a braille book launch.
Explora Science Center and Children’s Museum, Albuquerque, NM ran BBB Internships the summers of 2024 & 2025. They shared BBB intern work in the Electricity exhibit area as part of the museum’s larger STEM Day experience.
Another BBB network partner in Texas, Laredo Public Libraries, leveraged STEM Day participation to build staff capacity and utilized BBB resources and activities in their community programming.
Our newest BBB network partner, Arecibo C3 Center in Puerto Rico is the site of the old Observatory. Their STEM Day coincided with the center’s grand opening event and enabled them to emphasize its commitment to inclusive values by supporting their community members with disabilities.
